Everything Changes, and the Optum System Can Handle It

Charlie’s U-Save Pharmacy is an independent pharmacy in York, Neb., and founder Charles Moore, R.Ph., is proud to say the pharmacy has remained an independent since he purchased it in 1986 along with a few partners. He and his family have continued that tradition. Today, he is co-owner with his daughter Connie Bolte, Pharm.D., and his wife, Charlene Moore, serves as the DME (durable medical equipment) expert and bookkeeper. Bolte is the medication therapy management (MTM) and Medicare expert.

The pharmacy’s philosophy is simple: It is locally owned and dedicated to the well-being of its patients and their families. It’s part of the Health Mart network and a buying group, USave Pharmacy Group that includes some 160 pharmacies in the midwestern United States.

What’s changed over the 50-plus years Moore has been a pharmacist? “Everything!” he says. “But obviously, computers. When we came here we still used typewriters, and we used a paper record system to keep track of people’s prescriptions and hand-wrote receipts.” As pharmacies computerized, Moore and his partners knew they had to upgrade to stay competitive and they chose PDX. Over the years the systems grew in processing power and storage to the system he uses today, Optum EPS.

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• The Workflow Hack: How a small team of three uses workstation flexibility to avoid "tripping over each other" during high-volume periods.
• Minimizing Errors: Why Charlie Moore relies on barcode scanning and system-level checks for "peace of mind."
• Inventory Control: The specific strategy used to prevent high-dollar medications from sitting idle on shelves.
• Legacy Integration: How this pharmacy successfully repurposed hardware from a closed location to build a redundant, fail-safe server system.
• The Cash Business: A look at the DME niche that provides a steady flow of non-insurance revenue.